


Side Effects

by TallysGreatestFan



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Canon Disabled Character, Chronic Illness, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Sleepiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:41:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22654921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TallysGreatestFan/pseuds/TallysGreatestFan
Summary: Hordak does not know if the fatigue comes from his medication, or his illness, or both, but he does know that he does not want Entrapta to find out about yet another weakness of his, even after all that happened between them. However his body does not leave him much of a choice
Relationships: Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 131





	Side Effects

**Author's Note:**

> Companion piece to "Hands in Motion", where Hordak finds out about Entrapta stimming. This one is longer and focused on him.

At this point, Hordak did not even knew anymore if the fatigue came from his illness or if it was an side effect of one of the four high-potency medicaments he was taking. Or perhaps both. By now it was pointless to try to find out what was the reason and if it was possible to reduce it; the medicaments all interacted with each other and even just stopping taking one of them would render him unable to function. He had found out the hard way once as he had broken off the pain reliever he suspected of causing this fatigue that left him sleepy and unconcentrated when he should be conquering. He had thought he would be able to just power trough it, he was not physical strong, but he was enduring, always had been. How naïve he had been. He had been cowering on his throne, pain so strong that he had trouble even thinking, pain so strong that hardly anything else existed. It had cost all his power to talk and not whimper when Shadow Weaver contrived their next military tactics with him – he could not let her find out how weak he really was, she was far stronger than him and as soon as she would realize that he was absolutely sure she would kill him. There had been some connection between them as she had come to him all disturbed and seeking a new purpose years ago but whatever it was it had long faded.

So the only way to deal with the fatigue had been to let it happen, and consume lots of caffeine in the hope that would keep him at least a bit more awake.

Today was one of these days where it did not work.

He tried his best to not show any of his sleepiness and the slowly creeping up dizziness and nausea to Entrapta, who was calculating some aspects for the portal machine while he sat in his throne and looked trough reports.

Only as his head sagged forward and the fast downward movement awoke him, he realized that his eyes had fallen closed _again_ and he had fallen asleep right in his seat. He looked to Entrapta, she was still busy with her math. Good.

A part of him was sure that she would not be bothered, she had said to him imperfection was beautiful, she was his friend, recently, they even had become physically intimate – and he still did not understand why someone as beautiful and brilliant as her did that with him of all people but it felt so good, almost meant to be, that he just let it happen. Yet he felt so pathetic when he imagined her finding out. Weak. Defect. To lazy to power trough it.

He drank the last gulp of that caffeine-filled tea they imported from the conquered areas near Plumeria, but it seemed to have no effect.

Time crept forward slowly. He fell half-asleep several other times, and his concentration was so low that he had to reread large parts of the reports.

“I’m ready to go.”

“What?”, his mind was so slow that he needed a moment to realize what she meant.

“You look as if you need a break. I thought we would go to your quarter as always.”

She helped him to take off his armor, and then half helped, halve carried him to his bedroom. In his time as Horde Primes general he had fought on planets that had several times higher gravity than the Hordes home world. Stepping out of the space ship or portal onto these planets had felt just like removing the armor; suddenly the own body weight was dragging him brutally down and even just small movements felt incredibly exhausting. So weak. He tried to suppress the thought.

They sunk down on the bed, and as much as other times Entraptas presence and that hungry grin would have been all he could focus on, today he only noticed how soft the mattress was.

She kissed him, soft and lazily still, and it felt wonderful. It was still hard for him to find a word for the feeling, he was not even that sure if he had ever felt it before her, but he had heard soldiers talk about it, read about it, _cozy_ and _secure_. He had still no name for the warmth that bubbled up in his chest too, somewhat similar to what he felt when he thought at Horde Prime, but without the fear and feeling of being lesser.

However, she didn’t stopped at the kiss. Her lips left his and wandered up his throat and then she licked over his pointy ear, and her hand stroke over his hip. It felt good, and he felt arousal prickle between his thighs, but not really enough to actually do something about it. As much as he enjoyed, yes, even craved sex with her, her touch, her skin against his, how she looked like, the beautiful sounds she made, that he of all people could bring her this pleasure – something he could not have imagined before, but now, with her…- it was quite physically exhausting, and he definitely was to fatigued right now.

“Its nothing against you, I am just to exhausted.”, he said. Her hand left her hip immediately.

“Oh, I have that too sometimes.”, she said, and then smiled mischievously. “Though very rarely. You are just so pretty! And you smell good.”

He felt so honored and a bit disbelieving about this display of how much she desired him.

They laid entangled in each other for quite a while, and he nestled his head against her neck. She stroke trough his hair, her own hair covered him like an blanket. Feeling so safe like this, he dared to close his eyes. Just for a moment…

He felt her warmth, her arms around him, and listened to the faint sound of her breathing as he laid there in the darkness of his closed eyes. Just another moment…

He awoke an unknown amount of time later, from an strange dream in which he had hovered under the ceiling while the fire sprinkler threw droplets of water all around him. Hastily he looked around, Entrapta was not with him on the bed anymore.

He found her sitting at the small desk on the other side of the room however.

“How long did I slept?”

“Two hours or so? I looked trough the math for the portal again while you slept. You seemed as if you needed a good sleep.”

“Then you don’t think I am weak or pathetic or childish.”, he wanted to ask, but didn’t really dared.

“You look so cute when you sleep!”

“Cute?!”, that adjective was really not something he connected with himself.

“Your ears twitch and you are all curled up. Really cute!”

“Hmpf.”

He was still slightly dizzy as he always was after awaking, so he did not know how to continue the dialogue, or if there was actually a dialogue to continue at all.

“I haven’t run any tests so it is obviously not the most scientific advice, but I do suspect that doing a short break to sleep would benefit your overall productivity greatly.”

He smiled. Just what he had hoped to hear.

She came back to him and stroke trough his hair. “I will be there to watch over you if you want me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by my own experience with this
> 
> Please comment!


End file.
